Can-feeder.



J. A. FRITZ.

CAN FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-17.1917.

1,261,379., Patented ApLQ, 1918.

JAMES A. FRITZ, OF JUNEAU, WISCONSIN.

CAN-FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2, 1918.

Application filed November 17, 1917. Serial No. 202,451.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it is known that I, JAMES A. FRITZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Juneau, in the county of Dodge and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Feeders, of which the following is aspecification.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in means for feeding cans to machines used for labeling the same, and while it is more particularly intended for use in condensed milk factories or plants for feeding cans, after they have been filled with milk, to labeling machines, yet it is applicable for use in canning factories in general, in connection with such machines, and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement and operation of the various parts thereof as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

As is well known to those skilled in the art to which this invention ap'pertains, it has been and is the general custom in condensed milk factories, after the cans have been filled, to handle or transport them to the labeling machine in wooden trays, and to feed them from the trays to said machine by hand, usually, four cans at a, time, and that substantially the same method has been and is generally employed in factories where other food products such as peas, corn, tomatoes, fruits and berries are canned and labeled. This method is slow, tedious, expensive in labor, and otherwise unsatisfactory.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a can feeding device which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, strong, durable and efiicient in operation, with its parts so made and arranged that the cans will be fed thereby to the labeling machine in rapid succession, and practically automatically. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the sub-joined description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawing which serves to illustrate the invention,

Figure 1, is a top plan view of the feeder, showing by dotted lines a fragment of the labeling machine in connection with which it is used.

Fig. 2, is a view in side elevation of like parts showing the feeder in about the position it will be supported, and

Fig. 3, is a cross-sectional View of the mar; taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, looking clined from a perpendicular plane and the main part of the floor 6 is located on the wall or portion 5 at a right angle thereto. or, in other words, is transversely inclined toward said wall or portion. It will also be observed by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, that the fioor 6 is longitudinally inclined and has its discharging end abutting against a portion of the labeling machine, which portion is designated by the reference numeral 8 and shown by dotted lines in the difierent views of the drawing. The discharging end of the floor of the feeder may be provided with a pair of apertured projections 9 to receive a bolt 10 which is extended through the openings in the projections 9 and through openings in projections 11 on the labeling machine so as to secure the discharging end of the feeder to said machine. However, other means for this purpose may be employed, or the feeder may be mounted so that its discharging end will rest against or on the labeling machine in a suitable way to discharge the cans therefrom. That portion of the floor 6 adj acent to the end wall 7 of the feeder is somewhat wider than the major length of the floor and forms a receiving portion or platform 12 for the tray 1-3 and cans 14: after they are dumped from the tray. That edge of the floor 6 opposite the wall or portion 5 is provided with an upwardly extended flange 15 which extends from the discharging end of the floor to the inner portion of the widened part 12 thereof and has its end adjacent said widened portion turned outwardly as at 16 to assist in guiding the cans from said widened portion and the tray as they are dumped into the chute or guideway formed by the wall 5, floor 6 and flange 15, as will be readily understood by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The outer or receiving end of the feeder is supported by means of an upright frame 17 and braces 18 in such a Way that the desired inclination toward the labeling machine may be afforded to the floor, which as shown in Fig. 3, and before stated is inclined transversely and rearwardly from its outer edge to a point about midway between the ends of the flange 15 as at 19, see Fig. 1, from which point toward the discharging end of the feeder, the floor is located at a greater angle to the wall 5 so as to lie in a longitudinally inclined position but with its free end in a horizontal plane to coincide with that of the labeling machine or on which it rests. In order to effect this construction, the floor is provided at about the point 19 see Fig. 1, with a transverse bend or twist as will be readily understood.

The operation of the device is simple and as follows:

lVhen it is desired to use the feeder, the same is placed in about the position shown in Fig. 2, with respect to the labeling machine, when it is obvious that a tray filled with cans 14: may be placed on the edge of the receiving portion 12 of the floor as shown in Fig. 3, when by 'aising the outer portion of the tray to about a vertical position it is apparent that the cans 14: will be dumped therefrom onto the floor and against the wall 5 asillust 'ated by dotted lines in the last named figure, when by reason of the gravity of said cans, they will travel downwardly on the floor 6 and be guided in their proper positions by means of the flange 15 and wall 5 to the labeling machine as rapidly as said machine may require them. As the receiving portion 12 of the floor is trans versely inclined and as the wall 5 is likewise inclined from a perpendicular line it is manifest that when the tray is withdrawn the cans will be left on the feeder in such positions as not to roll off the free edge of the receiving portion 12 of the floor, but so as to roll downwardly thereon to the label ing machine.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A can feeder consisting of a suitably supported and longitudinally inclined rigid body having an upwardly extended side wall laterally inclined from a perpendicular line and a floor connected to the lower por tion of said wall and a vertical end wall at one of the ends of the floor and side wall, said floor having a widened portion adjacent the end wall and its main portion transversely inclined toward the side wall, the portion of said floor adjacent its discharging end being located in a longitudinally inclined but horizontal position and the widened portion of said floor being transversely inclined toward the side wall, and an upwardly projected flange'extended along the free edge of the floor from its discharging end to the adjacent part of the widened portion of the floor and having an outwardly curved portion at said end.

JAMES A. FRITZ.

\Vitnesses:

VVELDA LINDEMANN, AUG. KADING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

